Ex-NBC chief Zucker to head CNN Worldwide

CNN Thursday announced former NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker will become its top executive beginning in January.

Zucker, 47, who spent virtually his entire career at NBC before leaving in June to produce Katie Couric's syndicated talk show for ABC, said in a statement, "There is nothing I am as passionate about as journalism. I spent the most rewarding years of my career as a journalist, and it's where I look forward to spending many more."

Zucker becomes president of CNN Worldwide, replacing Jim Walton, who will leave by year's end.

Zucker was a storied producer at NBC News -- he became executive producer of "Today" at 26, and later ran both "Today" and "Nightly News," but his tenure as entertainment chief, which began in 2000, was mixed.

He began that role at a time when key franchises like "Friends" were coming to the end of long and successful runs, while his later mandate -- as chief executive of NBC Universal -- was to slash costs at the network. One initiative, the five-nights-a-week prime-time "Jay Leno Show," was a fiasco. But also during that period other NBC-owned networks, like USA, E! and Bravo, underwent considerable growth.

Asked about the NBC missteps during a conference call, Zucker said, "No doubt I made mistakes in the entertainment world, and I own those," but he said the role CNN would pivot on what he had done best in his past -- being a news executive. "This is a return to daily news journalism."

He declined to offer specifics about future changes at troubled CNN. "That's not fair to anybody," he said. "There are great folks here, but there's more work to be done."